Grandmother Wisdom

 -a sermon for the sixth Sunday of Easter-

 

Rev. Dr. Raymond Aldred, in the book “Our Home and Treaty Land: Walking Our Creation Story, (2022 Wood Lake Pub., pp. 157-8)” tells this story:

 

When the Creator was making all things, after he’d made all the animals, he asked them: “I’m about to make human beings. But before I make them I’m going to make ‘that which is most precious.’ I want to hide it somewhere,” Creator said, “because human beings – well, anything they can find easily, they treat with contempt. So where should I hide this?” the Creator asked the animals.

There was silence. And then the whale stood up. Whale said, “Give that which is most precious to me and I’ll take it to the bottom of the ocean. And there human beings won’t find it.” And Creator smiled and said, “I tell you the truth. One day human beings will go to the bottom of the ocean. They will find it. And treat it with contempt.” There was silence again.  Then Eagle stood, he who flies high, and said, “Give that which is most precious to me and I will fly it to the moon. And there human beings won’t find it.” And Creator smiled again and said, “I tell you the truth: one day human beings will go to the moon and they will find it there. And they will treat it with contempt.”

And there was silence again. Then grandmother field mouse stood up, and she said in a small voice, “Put that which is most precious in their heart, for they seldom look there for anything of value.”

 

Grandmother wisdom – wisdom of that which is most precious.

On this 6^th Sunday of Easter, the scriptures play around that which is most precious:

In your hearts sanctify Christ as lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the HOPE that is in you.

Do it with gentleness and reverence.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth.

That which is most precious – HOPE.

And with hope: gentleness, reverence, Love;

And with love: another Advocate, the Spirit of truth. In coming weeks, on Pentecost Sunday, we will hear the fullness of the role of this Advocate, in the coming of the Holy Spirit.

 

Grandmother field mouse said, “Put that which is most precious in their heart, for they seldom look there for anything of value.”

When I think about life, people spend a lot of energy seeking things, accomplishing goals, achieving benchmarks, progressing forward. We work. We are busy. We consume.

In this search for sustenance, security, and happiness, we separate ourselves from the heart of the matter, and that which ultimately grounds us. We fail to take care of that which is most precious, the hope that is in us.

We get busy so we skip church, telling ourselves we can worship and pray anywhere. We stop making an effort to participate in community, thinking when I need community it will be there. We say we believe in God but the institution is not for us, forgetting that this is where we learned the stories, wrestled with what we believe and how to live; that this is where we will come to mourn our grandparents. We want our children to ‘be good’ without the burden of religion, not realizing that there is no place in the world for big life questions and conversations about them. Hope doesn’t just happen – it gets lost as generations move away from gathering in Christian community; a group of people faithfully living love, not by their own power, but by Christ who lives through them. Christ who suffers alongside the world, embodied, incarnate in the world, with hands and heart of compassion and grace.

 

When I think of times in my life when I experienced trouble, whether helplessness or hopelessness, insecurity or anxiety, frustration or being completely overwhelmed; times when my spirit was unbalanced, faith wavering, and purpose lost; do you know what turned circumstances around, or my attitude and ability to address situations, what it was that brought me back to that which is most precious? 

Grandmother wisdom.

Grandmothers - my own and other women elders. Grandmothers who listened and loved. Grandmothers who were gentle and reverent. Grandmothers who encouraged and supported. Grandmothers who were patient. Grandmothers who told stories and had wise sayings. Grandmothers who were not afraid to tell the truth in love. Grandmothers who prayed continually. Grandmothers who did not loss hope and carried faith for me. Grandmothers who never stopped loving, no matter what.

In those crazy times of life, God reached me through women elders. Women elders who seemed to just know what I was going through and feeling before I said anything. I believe these women were working as another Advocate – the Holy Spirit was embodied in them and worked through them. And was able to do so because the women were grounded and lived from the hope that was in them. It is not surprising to me that God’s spirit and wisdom in scripture are feminine parts of the deity, unfortunately translation to English clouds our understanding of this feminine nature of Spirit.

 

I was once told that God smells like peppermint. I asked to hear more. The person described crawling into grandma’s lap, snuggling in, and having a story read to them. With each breath grandma took, she breathed out the aroma of the peppermint candies. God smells like peppermint because grandma’s embrace was the embodiment of God’s love. A place where all was right with the world. A place that was safe. A place to enter a story, play with imagination, and encounter wisdom. It was in these arms that I experienced the closest thing to God’s love that I have experienced.

Days like Mother’s Day give us an opportunity to be grateful for Grandmother Wisdom, for Women Elders, for grounded Spirit that moves in love to remind us of that which is most precious, to return us to the heart of the matter, Christ -that which is greater than ourselves- hidden as that which is most precious in our hearts, HOPE.

We started the season of Easter with a group of women, the Mary’s, Joanna, Salome. With great love the women went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body with burial ointment. This act was one of reverence and gentleness, acknowledging a life, and living the wisdom of grieving. It was a tangible gift to be given from the depths of their being. Upon reaching the tomb they find that Jesus is not there. That Jesus is risen and will meet the disciples in Galilee. The women believe.  They intuitively know, -the most precious- in their heart bursts--- hope abounds. Christ is risen!

They run to tell the good news, to awaken HOPE in the hearts of the disciples.

 

As a disciple, can you account for the HOPE that is in you? Is that which is most precious hidden in your heart, or has it been awakened by Grandmother wisdom?

Pause for just a moment and consider with gratitude Women Elders, Grandmothers, who have carried faith for you, who have embraced and loved you, who have been another Advocate.

…..

Grandmother Wisdom comes to us again and again, softening our rough edges, slowing down progress reminding us to return to the heart of the matter, HOPE. Embrace these moments of gentleness and reverence – feel the spirit of truth proclaiming, “Christ is risen!”